The movie starts by telling us that in 2011, a lethal virus swept across the planet killing 99% of the population. For the next 400 years, the rest of the population lived within the walled city of Bregna, ruled over by the Goodchild dynasty. We then hear Aeon Flux telling us that in Bregna, everything seems perfect, but beneath its surface, something festers. People disappear never to be seen again with no explanation, and a group of people called the Monicans are the only resistance against the power of the Goodchilds. We then see the best Monican agent, Aeon (Charlize Theron), approaching a man we later learn to be named Claudius. The two kiss passionately, but we then find out that Claudius is really slipping a pill of some sort to Aeon. She swallows and falls into some kind of trance where she meets with the Handler (Frances McDormand), who tells her to place some kind of surveillance egg in the main capital building to spy on the Goodchilds.